Photography And Half-Thoughts By Mitchell Hegman

...because some of it is pretty and some of it is not.

Monday, May 15, 2017

Magpie Gulch

Magpie Gulch is a
drainage cutting down through the Big Belt Mountains to reach the shores of
Canyon Ferry Reservoir. The forest
within the drainage has seen wildfire in my lifetime. The Cave Gulch fire of 2000 scoured though
most of the drainage, leaving few evergreen trees standing. In total, that fire ravaged through some
34,500 acres of wildlands.

Yesterday, that girl and
I drove up through Magpie Gulch. Though
evergreen trees will be slow in returning to much of the steep, mountainous
landscape, grasses, forbs, and bushes are flourishing. The bottoms are filling in with aspen trees.

4 comments:

Hi Mitchell, coming out of lurk mode to say I really enjoy your writing. I landed here a few days ago researching Gillette Syndrome. I lived in Montana for 30 years and am now in Wyoming. Thank you for the photography, stories, and reminders of the state I dearly love!

Happy to have you "lurking!" Thank you for the kind words. What a very interesting way to find 'The Sky!' My nephew (once a Navy seal) in now is South Korea doing something or other for the military, but his family is still living in Gillete. Hope all is well in Joy World.